Appeal Court Overturns UI School Hijab Ruling, Muslim Parents Head to Supreme Court
Muslim parents vow to continue seven-year legal fight, insisting the case is about constitutional religious freedom rather than school uniform policy.
By Abdullahi Yusuf
The legal battle over the right of female Muslim students to wear the hijab at the International School, University of Ibadan (ISI), is set to continue at the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court judgment that had recognised the students’ right to wear the Islamic head covering.
The split decision, delivered by the Court of Appeal in Ibadan in a two-to-one majority, reverses the ruling of the Oyo State High Court, which in May 2024 held that the affected students were entitled to wear the hijab as an expression of their constitutional right to freedom of religion.
The latest judgment concludes another phase of a dispute that has lasted seven years and has become one of the country’s most closely watched legal battles over the accommodation of religious rights within educational institutions.
Reacting shortly after the verdict, the Chairman of the International School University of Ibadan Muslim Parents Forum, Alhaji Abdur Rahman Balogun, described the decision as disappointing but insisted the campaign was far from over.
“We lost the appeal, but the struggle continues,” he said, assuring Muslim parents and students that the matter would immediately be taken before the Supreme Court.
Balogun urged supporters to remain peaceful and law-abiding, expressing confidence that the country’s highest court would ultimately determine the constitutional questions raised by the case.
For the Muslim Parents Forum, the dispute extends beyond a disagreement over school uniform. It argues that the case concerns the constitutional right of Muslim girls to practise their faith without discrimination while pursuing their education.
The appeal arose after the management of the International School challenged the judgment delivered by the Oyo State High Court on 22 May 2024, which had allowed 11 female Muslim students to wear the hijab with their school uniform.
In the majority judgment, Justice Biobele Georgewill, with Justice K. I. Amadi concurring, held that the International School is a private educational institution rather than a public school.
The court ruled that the earlier Supreme Court judgment permitting Muslim students to wear the hijab applied specifically to public schools in Lagos State and could not automatically be extended to private schools operating under different legal arrangements.
According to the court, the students voluntarily accepted the school’s rules and dress code upon admission by signing the institution’s undertaking.
Justice Georgewill further held that although freedom of religion is constitutionally protected, individuals may voluntarily accept limitations arising from contractual agreements, including school regulations.
“In public schools, students can wear the hijab based on the judgment of the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court is yet to make any pronouncement on the use of the hijab in private schools,” the court held while setting aside the earlier High Court ruling.
Despite overturning the decision on the hijab itself, the appellate court unanimously agreed that the treatment meted out to the students by school authorities amounted to a violation of their rights.
The court upheld the finding that confining the students in the school library for between three and four hours was unlawful, although it reduced the damages earlier awarded by the High Court from one million naira to two hundred thousand naira.
In a dissenting judgment, Justice Fadawu Umar disagreed with the majority and affirmed the earlier High Court decision, maintaining that the Muslim students were entitled to wear the hijab while attending the school.
The split judgment is likely to strengthen arguments expected before the Supreme Court, where the Muslim parents hope the constitutional issues surrounding religious freedom and private educational institutions will receive definitive interpretation.
The dispute has attracted significant attention from Muslim organisations and rights advocates since it began, with supporters maintaining that the hijab is a compulsory aspect of Islamic observance rather than a cultural preference.
The parents’ forum argues that the matter is ultimately about protecting the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution and ensuring that Muslim students are not compelled to choose between their education and their religious obligations.
With both sides now expected to prepare for another legal contest, the case appears destined for the Supreme Court, where a final ruling could shape future debates over religious accommodation in private schools across Nigeria.
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